Mammootty (born Muhammad Kutty Ismail Paniparambil on 7 September 1951) is an Indian film actor and producer best known for his work in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in over 300 films as the lead actor.

Family and early life

Mammootty was born as Muhammad Kutty Ismail Paniparambil and raised in the village of Chempu near Vaikom in the Kottayam district of the state of Kerala, India in a middle-class, Muslim family. He was the eldest son. He has two younger brothers, Ibrahim and Zakariah and three younger sisters, Ameena, Sauda and Shafina.[10] His father Ismail was a farmer and his mother Fatima was a housewife. Mammootty's father shifted his family to Ernakulam during the 1960s; his school life was at St. Albert's School and Government School Ernakulam. He did his pre-university course (pre-degree) at Maharajas College, Kochi, and then graduated with a L.L.B. (Bachelor of Laws) from ErnakulamGovernment Law College. He practised law for two years in Manjeri.

He married a lady named Sulfath in 1979[2] and has a daughter, Surumi (born 1982), and a son, Dulquer Salman (born 1986). Mammootty's younger brother Ebrahimkutty is an actor in Malayalam. Ebrahimkutty's son Maqbool Salmaan is a film actor.[11]

1984–1993

In a period of five years from 1982 to 1987 Mammootty acted in more than 150 films in the lead role.[13] In 1986 alone, he acted in about 35 films including a glimpse appearance in Mazha Peyyunnu Maddalam Kottunnu.[14]

In the mid 80s he collaborated in what became known as the 'Mammootty-Kutty-Petty' films. These films had Mammootty as the protagonist, a husband and a father, with a 3–4-year old daughter, and employed in a top ranking post in a company. Mammootty made a comeback with New Delhi and Thaniyavarthanam, both released in 1987. In New Delhi he played a victimised journalist, who systematically took revenge on politicians who flattered him. He received the Kerala Film Critics Awards for Best Actor for his role as Balan Mash in Thaniyavarthanam, written by Lohithadas and directed by Sibi Malayil.[15]

Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha was directed by T. Hariharan and penned by M.T.Vasudevan Nair. Mammootty's depiction of a Chekavar (mercenary warrior) of distinguished valor but vilified by circumstances won him the National Film Award for Best Actor. Along with the huge commercial success of the film, Mammooty was given rave reviews about his lead role in the film, which required heavy physical and psychological preparations. His role as a hunter Varunni in Mrigaya, directed by I.V. Sasi, and another film Mahayanam, were also scanned for the State Award. Mammootty won the Filmfare award for Amaram directed by Bharathan. He played the role of an uneducated fisherman who dreams of making his only daughter a doctor.

During this time, Mammootty appeared in many of the films directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan. He starred in three of Gopalakrishnan's films, Anantaram ('Thenceforth'), Mathilukal ('Walls') and Vidheyan ('The Servile'). His portrayal of the protagonist in Mathilukal (based on Mathilukal, a novel by the Malayalam novelist Vaikom Muhammad Basheer) was instrumental in getting him his first National Film Award for Best Actor. Mammootty also portrayed the roles in Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Vidheyan and T V Chandran's Ponthan Mada. He received the National Film Award for Best Actor and State Award for his roles in both films. His performance in Valtsalyam, directed by Cochin Haneefa, was also considered for the State Award.

By the end of the 1990s he acted in films such as Priyadarshan's Megham and Fazil's Harikrishnans in which he co-starred with Mohanlal. Due to immense popularity of both the actors, Fazil was forced to use multiple climaxes for the first time in India.[17]

In 2001 he acted in two films including Dubai, one of the most expensive films ever made in Malayalam at that time.[20] In 2002, he acted in three films. Chronic Bachelor in 2003 was a romantic comedy-drama film about the life of Sathyaprathapan (known as SP). The film was written and directed by Siddique and produced by Malayalam director Fazil. The film was released as a Vishu release in 2003. It ran for more than 115 days.[21]

Mammootty had six releases in 2005, including Anwar Rasheed's directorial debut Rajamanikyam. He portrayed Bellary Raja, a Thiruvananthapuram based cattle dealer in the film, which was the highest grosser of the year and highest grossing Malayalam film until 2008.[23]

In 2008, Mammootty appeared in Annan Thambi. The film released in 75 centres across the state, completed 50 days in nearly 61 centres and 120 days in 4 centres. He played a police officer for 25th time in the film Roudram. He also starred in Kerala's multistarrer Twenty: 20 in 2008.

He made his debut into Hindi films through Thriyathri which was released in 1989, though his first film as a leading actor was Dhartiputra. He starred in the biographical film Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar directed by Jabbar Patel which was in the English language. He also appeared in Sau Jhooth Ek Sach (2004).

During the 2006 IIFA Awards ceremony held at Dubai, he openly criticised the organizers of the IIFA Awards for completely ignoring South Indian film by stating that the Bollywood film industry should stand up to competition from the South Indian film industry before calling itself international.[33]

Mammootty is the goodwill ambassador of the charity project "Street India Movement", which is aimed at the eradication of child begging and child labour. He has promoted the activities of the movement, which networks with orphanages and institutions looking after the children.[37]

Kazhcha is a venture to extend free eye care and treatment organised by Mammootty Fans Welfare Association and Mammootty Times, in association with Little Flower Hospital and Research Centre and the Eye Bank Association of Kerala. One of the major activities related to this is distribution of free spectacles to children. A special fund received from the office of the President of India will be utilised[when?] for this purpose. Free eye camps will also be conducted at various places in connection to this project.[38]

Mammootty is a patron of "Care and Share International Foundation", a charity organisation working towards removing the inequalities in society. The foundation has done many notable humanitarian works including the recent "Hridaya Sparsham project", to mobilise help for the heart surgery of children. Mammootty's plea over the social networking sites evoked aid worth about 1 crore within a day.[41]

In August 2014, Mammootty launched the My Tree Challenge as a response to the popularity of the Ice Bucket Challenge. Its purpose is to encourage others to plant saplings, as the rules dictate they should if they are challenged.[42] My Tree Challenge was kick-started by two environment lovers, Abdul Manaf, an entrepreneur, and Imthias Kadeer, a travel photographer. It was actor Fahadh Faasil who first challenged actors Mohanlal and Mammootty to take up the challenge.[43]

He formed a television production company, Megabytes, which produced television serials, the first being Jwalayay[45] in the late 1990s, which was also his first project as a producer.[46] He also owns a distribution company named Mammootty Technotainment.[47] The company distributed his Tamil film Karmegham in Kerala.

In the media and other activities

In 2005, Mammootty, Mohanlal, Dileep accounted for 97% of the box-office revenue of Malayalam cinema.[48]

Mammootty is busy promoting the anti-drug campaign Addicted to Life. He has joined hands with Kerala State Beverages Corporation to promote the campaign. The project, launched by the Government of Kerala aims to eradicate the drugs and alcohol usage among the people; especially the youth.[49] Mammootty was appointed as the Global Brand ambassador of the Thrissur-based South Indian Bank on 16 October 2006.[50][51] He was also featured as the brand ambassador for Kerala Volleyball League.[52]